1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of biological instruments and more particularly magnetostrictive film smart material actuators.
2. Description of the Prior Art
TERFENOL-D™ is a magnetostrictive material that is commercially available and is currently being used to make rods and composites. This material changes size when exposed to an applied magnetic field. Magnetostrictive actuators with dimensions around 10 mm square by 3 mm thick have been build and are known to produce a large force and low amplitude motion at high frequencies. Actuators of similar size configured as prismatic structural beams have been modeled and characterized. Magnetostrictive films of thickness of more than 250 microns can be made by mixing magnetostrictive particles with a host resin. These films exhibit up to 200 microstrain when excited with a magnetic field. In addition to magnetostrictive films, piezoelectric material has been used to develop actuators for a variety of applications (for example, a piezo beam valve sensor for aircraft).
What is badly needed is to be able to make magnetostrictive films between 5–250 microns thick that exhibit good coupling between the particles and the host polymer, and that are easy to and cheap to fabricate.